Chapter 257: Starfire’s Guidance, a Nine Heavens Battle
Wang Yin’s Heaven-Toppling Stance was the most devastating technique in the World-Toppling Fists of the Affluent.
Its subtlety lay in its ability to use one’s own magic power to incite turmoil in the enemy’s, creating a resonance that ultimately inflicted both internal and external damage.
Thus… using the opponent’s own magic power to attack them from within was not only astonishingly powerful but also impossible to defend against, making it especially adept at breaking through all manner of body hardening techniques.
The reason he had not used the Heaven-Toppling Stance in their previous battle was simple.
“I can’t kill him.”
“If he’s dead, how can I sell him for a high price?”
“Crippling him too badly is also not good; the treatment costs would be my own.”
Unlike Zhang Yu, who was wholeheartedly focused on the battle, his mind completely absorbed in the fight.
To Wang Yin, this was not a battle at all, but merely a part of his job from beginning to end. His combat decisions were primarily determined by a consideration of the company’s profits, not the battle itself.
After all, to him, this battle…
“Victory is without question, so the key to this fight is to win beautifully, to create promotional value, and to generate higher profits.”
“Now, without the enhancement of a heart art, the power of the Heaven-Toppling Stance won’t reach its peak, but it’s more than enough to deal with Zhang Yu.”
Wang Yin’s fist seal shot forward, wrapped in surging astral qi, and struck Zhang Yu squarely in the chest.
With a series of crackling explosions, the air around them shattered, and the ground beneath their feet instantly caved in as if crushed by a mountain under the terrifying force of the impact.
And as Wang Yin watched his fist press into Zhang Yu’s pectoral muscles, sternum, internal organs…
Feeling the other’s flesh and blood gradually giving way under his knuckles.
He was surprised. This guy… all offense, no defense, completely abandoning his guard?
Simultaneously, the violent martial astral qi from Wang Yin’s punch slammed into Zhang Yu’s chest, rampaging through his entire body with destructive force.
Then Wang Yin discovered that Zhang Yu’s body was completely empty, without a single trace of magic power to resist it.
Without a single trace of magic power, it meant the Heaven-Toppling Stance could not agitate the enemy’s power and could not unleash its maximum destructive potential.
This guy knew the secret of the Heaven-Toppling Stance, so he simply gave up his defense, not even leaving a trace of magic power behind.
Hmph, that old ghost Starfire must have told him, right?
With a series of explosive pops, and along with the fierce bombardment of astral qi, mists of blood burst forth from all over Zhang Yu’s body.
Even without unleashing the full power of the Heaven-Toppling Stance, this single blow is enough to severely injure you.
Wang Yin sneered inwardly. And the opportunity you exchanged your life for will never be able to harm me… what?!
Almost at the exact moment Wang Yin’s Heaven-Toppling Stance slammed into Zhang Yu, wisps of milky-white mist suddenly appeared before him.
It was the Formless Cloud-Astral Qi.
But how could the Formless Cloud-Astral Qi have bypassed the blood-shadows to appear before him?
The next instant, a hand abruptly broke through the layers of blood-shadows, grasping at Wang Yin’s face.
And behind that hand were Zhang Yu’s cold eyes.
“Got you.”
Feeling the hand that had broken through the blood-shadows reach before him, Wang Yin couldn’t fathom how Zhang Yu, who just an hour and a half ago was utterly helpless against his Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil without Bai Zhenzhen’s aid, had now instantly pierced through his magical treasure.
When? Wang Yin was shocked. His last move was actually able to break through my Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil?
Because Zhang Yu’s full-powered Formless Cloud-Astral Qi had shrouded his moves in a rolling mist, Wang Yin had been unable to see the technique’s true nature.
Or rather, from the very beginning of this fight, he had never taken Zhang Yu’s offense seriously.
However, just now, in the process of Wang Yin striking Zhang Yu with his Heaven-Toppling Stance.
Zhang Yu had used his level 11 Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force to unleash the 11-hit combo he had stored in the apertures of his astral qi all at once.
In the instant he struck, True Person Starfire’s words once again flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind.
“Fierce palm force must be driven by a palm technique.”
“A pulling force is best executed with a grappling technique.”
“Conversely, if a palm pushes horizontally, but the force within it is a pulling one, how can its maximum power be unleashed?”
“Your Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force can store the power of your attacks, but to unleash its maximum potential, form and force must be united. You must use your astral qi to shape the most suitable forms for the explosion of different forces…”
The full experience of a level 11 Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force bloomed in Zhang Yu’s mind, and images of cultivation flashed through his sea of consciousness.
Under the stimulation of immense pressure, the Crippled Ox Body-Sacrifice Heart Art operated madly, rendering Zhang Yu’s mind perfectly clear and exceptionally agile as he commanded his body and magic power, exquisitely controlling the details of every subsequent move.
Accompanied by the surging Formless Cloud-Astral Qi, within the rolling mist, the 11-hit combo that Zhang Yu unleashed completely transformed into 11 figures made of Formless Cloud-Astral Qi, each attacking the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil with different postures—palm techniques, fist techniques, grappling, clinching…
In Zhang Yu’s mind, True Person Starfire’s earlier lesson surfaced again: “…a single move of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force contains multiple strikes; they need to be coordinated.”
“For instance, if three people attack a large man simultaneously, which is more formidable? All three using the same ‘Black Tiger Snatches the Heart’ move to strike at the man?”
“Or one person pushing him sideways, one pulling his head, and one tripping his leg?”
“Multiple strikes in an instant, with different moves coordinating with one another, can unleash astonishing destructive power.”
On the battlefield between Zhang Yu and Wang Yin.
Eleven astral qi figures erupted with force.
The first two astral qi figures, leading the charge, were one on the left and one on the right. Using the Formless Cloud-Astral Qi as a medium and the technique of the Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Shattering Palm, they unleashed Zhang Yu’s full-powered palm strikes, viciously hammering the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil.
Seeing the blood-shadows move to block the left and right sides, thinning out the defense in the center, Zhang Yu thought to himself, True Person Starfire was right.
The Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil is managed by nothing more than a rudimentary artifact spirit with insufficient intelligence; its primary function is to defend wherever it is attacked.
And with Wang Yin’s cultivation crippled, he can’t control the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil with precision, which means I can actively create an opening in this magical treasure.
First, use the initial two strikes to draw the blood-shadows to the left and right, and then…
The remaining nine astral qi figures simultaneously attacked the centerline.
One slapped a palm horizontally against the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil, striking open a gap.
Another used a grappling technique to preemptively cut off the reinforcing blood-shadows.
One astral qi figure used the opponent’s force against them, a single move causing the subsequent reinforcing blood-shadows to crash into one another.
Yet another astral qi figure sent a vibrating punch down the path, blasting open a larger fissure…
Under nine consecutive strikes, a variety of different techniques coordinated with one another, as if nine Zhang Yus were exerting their full strength to excavate, support, and clear stone before an incredibly solid rock face… forcibly carving out a path that was exceedingly narrow, yet incredibly firm.
And as the eleven astral qi figures each unleashed their full power and gradually dissipated, Zhang Yu’s own palm had already passed through the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil, through the briefly opened fissure, and grabbed Wang Yin’s face.
The 12th strike!
Zhang Yu’s own full-powered palm!
Boom!
Wang Yin’s head was violently blasted as if by a heavy cannon, snapping sharply backward.
“Impressive…”
As his head was thrown back by the palm strike, a trace of admiration couldn’t help but rise in Wang Yin’s heart. He knew he couldn’t outlast me, knew his chances of winning decreased the longer the fight went on, so he abandoned all defense from the start to deliver this life-or-death blow.
He even managed to open a fissure in my Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil.
Zhang Yu, oh Zhang Yu, even as you bare your teeth at me, even as you try to bite me back, I have to say it.
You really are a good dog.
At the same time, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Wang Yin’s mouth as he braced against the 12th strike from Zhang Yu, enduring the palm… and slowly brought his head back from its tilted position.
“No matter how you scheme, you will never break through this bionic skin of mine.”
“This is the absolute gap in strength.”
Wang Yin’s other hand slightly clenched into a fist, preparing to deliver a second Heaven-Toppling Stance.
With this blow, he was confident he could completely neutralize Zhang Yu.
“It’s over…”
But in the next moment, Wang Yin’s expression changed once again.
He suddenly felt that the residual fist force and astral qi from the Heaven-Toppling Stance he had just delivered were being rapidly absorbed as if drawn into a black hole.
The power of the Heaven-Toppling Stance was channeled through Zhang Yu’s body, guided outside, and poured into an empty aperture of his Formless Cloud-Astral Qi, and then…
The 13th strike!
Heaven-Toppling Stance!
This was the special effect only acquired after cultivating the Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force to the 10th level, allowing him to absorb an opponent’s attack, channel it into an aperture, and then release it again using his astral qi as a medium.
And the amount of power he could absorb was dependent on Zhang Yu’s own level of cultivation.
The stronger his own cultivation, the stronger the force he could absorb with his apertures.
“What?!”
Feeling that familiar astral qi violently slam into his body, even beginning to agitate the magic power within him, Wang Yin’s face was filled with disbelief.
“Heaven-Toppling Stance? How could he possibly know the World-Toppling Fists of the Affluent?”
“No, it’s some kind of martial art that borrows and redirects force, one that can even absorb techniques?”
“To be able to do this… could it be a military-grade cultivation technique?”
With no time to think further, Wang Yin immediately circulated his power to suppress the raging magic power within his body.
And seizing this opportunity, Zhang Yu had already slipped through the gap before the Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil could close again.
Zhang Yu’s mind recalled True Person Starfire’s guidance: “The Netherworld Blood-Shadow Veil has a defensive range. It’s like a glass case covering Wang Yin, not something that clings to his skin for defense, otherwise it would affect his daily movements.”
“In other words… as long as you open a gap, slip inside, and engage him in close-quarters combat, this magical treasure can no longer protect him.”
He had concluded, “You must remember, every magical treasure in this world has its flaws. Only our own bodies and wills, through constant tempering, can adapt to any situation and surpass any magical treasure.”
At that time, lying on the operating table, Zhang Yu had thought to himself, Is it really not just because we’re too poor and have to rely on ourselves?